Blueberry Cream Cheese Bars are layered dessert bars with a toasted pecan crust, whipped cream plus cream cheese filling, and a topping made with fresh blueberries. Try my Apple Cream Cheese Bars for another layered dessert bar.
Blueberry Cream Cheese Bars
This blueberry cream cheese bar recipe is a copycat recipe of Magnolia Bakery’s Blueberry Jamboree. The bakery first opened in New York in 1996 and is known for classic American baked goods. Since that time, the bakery has expanded to locations worldwide. These copycat Blueberry Jamboree dessert bars give you a creamy and nutty bite with a blueberry topping.
Ingredients & Substitutions
There are three important (and delicious) parts to this recipe–the blueberry topping, nutty crust, and cream cheese filling. Here are a few reminders about some of the ingredients needed.
Blueberries: I prefer fresh blueberries for this recipe, but you could also use frozen berries.
Cornstarch: Cornstarch is mixed with cold water to make a slurry. This is added to the blueberry mixture to thicken it up. (If you add cornstarch directly to the hot mixture, the sauce will be clumpy.)
Lemon Zest: Be sure to wash the lemon well before zesting.
Pecans: To make the recipe easier, buy pecans that have already been finely chopped. Otherwise, use a food processor to chop the nuts. If you don’t have a food processor, a pastry cutter works well for softer nuts, like pecans. Or, an apple cutter could also be used.
Heavy Cream: Also known as heavy whipping cream, heavy cream contains 36-40% fat. The cream is the dairy that supplements the cream cheese, giving the cheesecake filling a smoother texture.
Tips for Whipping the Cream
- Don’t aim for “stiff peaks”. You want the whipped cream to keep its shape and be soft, billowing peaks.
- Wait until peaks start to form before adding in the confectioners’ sugar. I much prefer confectioners sugar in this recipe, as it dissolves entirely and leaves a smooth texture. If you choose to use granulated sugar be sure to add it immediately at the beginning and whip it with the cream.
How to Store Blueberry Cream Cheese Bars
Let the bars chill in the refrigerator for about an hour before cutting and serving. Store, covered, in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
Blueberry Desserts
Blueberry Cream Cheese Bars {Copycat Blueberry Jamboree}
Ingredients
Blueberry Topping
- 3 ½ cups (518 g) fresh blueberries, divided
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- ⅛ cup (25 g) brown sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 ½ tablespoons water
- ¾ teaspoon lemon zest
Crust
- 1 cup (110 g) toasted pecans, finely chopped
- ¾ cup (1½ sticks / 170g) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour
Filling
- 2 cups (476 g) heavy cream
- 2 cups (220 g) sifted confectioners' sugar
- 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F and line a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment paper. Set aside.
Blueberry Topping
- In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add 2 cups of blueberries, sugar, and brown sugar. Mix until sugar is dissolved. Blueberries will start to pop as they heat, this is normal.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and water until the cornstarch is dissolved.
- Pour the cornstarch mixture into the blueberries and stir until thickened.
- Add the lemon zest. Stir to combine.
- Remove from heat and fold in the remaining blueberries.
- Pour the blueberry mixture into a separate bowl. Allow it to cool a few minutes before transferring the bowl to the refrigerator to chill as you make the crust and filling.
Crust
- To toast the pecans, add them to a medium skillet over medium heat. Toast until browned and fragrant, stirring frequently (3-5 minutes). Remove from heat and let cool.
- When ready, in a medium bowl, combine melted butter, flour, and toasted pecans.
- Press into the bottom of the prepared 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Bake 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature.
Filling
- Add heavy cream to a mixing bowl. Start mixing at the lowest speed, and then gradually increase speed to medium until the cream starts to get thicker. (The gradual progression prevents you from spraying yourself with cream.)
- When the cream starts to thicken, stop the mixer. Slowly add in the confectioners' sugar and then resume mixing again, starting with low speed and increasing to medium speed, and eventually moving to a high speed. The cream will thicken and start to peak.
- In a separate large bowl, add cream cheese and beat until creamy.
- Gently fold the whipped cream mixture into the cream cheese. Pour the mixture over the cooled crust.
- Top with cooled blueberry mixture.
- Chill in the refrigerator 1 hour before serving.
Video
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Could the pecans be omitted from the crust if making for a crowd of people who have nut allergies.
I have seen recipes for the crust that uses flour or graham cracker crumbs. You can Google search a recipe or check out Pinterest.
I tried this recipe tonight. Soooo here is my review, this is so darn delicious, like really delicious. I want more. Unfortunately I can’t give it 10 stars because there are not enough stars, but lets just pretend there are 10 stars up there.
I made this yesterday and it was so delicious my entire family loved it!! It was a little watery or melted consistency. I had it refrigerator for about 4 hours. However, I am going to make it again tonight. My family keep asking for more! Any suggestion or tips so it can come out more firm? Thank you so much!
I made this last week for a trial run and boy was this delicious. I made it just as the recipe called for with no changes. I had my best friend/her husband, adult children, grand-children and husband have a slice and they all loved it. Recipe was asked for and shared. I am making it for my Bible study group this week of twenty! I know they will love it as well. Thanks so very much for another winning recipe!
This is awesome!! Yummy yum yum Thanks Amanda❤️🔥
Your recipes are wonderful I love trying different things I did the lemon cake it came out delicious
Thank you
Do you have recipe just using cool whip ? For fast ideas…
This recipe is fantastic. I made it exactly as written, it’s delicious. This dessert is a winner. Thanks, Amanda.
Absolutely delicious with fresh blueberries from my bushes that weren’t as sweet as I’d like. I saved some of this dessert to freeze for a week and test out. Really great even semi frozen, but the crust was a bit too frozen . We gave it time to thaw and it was only slightly less awesome that fresh.er
This dessert is fabulous….I forgot to toast the pecans, but it didn’t matter. We loved it and I used fresh blueberries from my own young bushes. They were a bit tart ,but again it was delicious. I tested freezing half of it. It was just about as wonderful frozen although the crust was needing to thaw a bit more.
Iam making it again for company this weekend.